Smoke and Fumes Synopsis

This executive summary from the Center for International Environmental Law argues that major fossil fuel companies are legally and ethically responsible for the climate crisis. It asserts that these companies were aware of the risks of their products as early as the 1950s but chose to protect their own assets while funding extensive disinformation campaigns to undermine climate science and stymie regulation.

• Major oil and gas companies were aware of the potential climate change risks associated with their products by the late 1950s. Specifically, Humble Oil (now ExxonMobil) released a study in 1957 regarding the accumulation of heat-trapping gases, and the American Petroleum Institute (API) was studying atmospheric carbon dioxide by 1958.
• The petroleum industry received explicit warnings about climate change by 1968. A report delivered to the API that year identified fossil fuel combustion as the primary driver of greenhouse gas accumulation, though the industry omitted these findings when submitting related information to the federal government.
• Between the 1970s and 1980s, oil companies began integrating climate change projections into their own operational planning to protect assets, even as they publicly downplayed the risks. Examples include Shell redesigning a $3 billion natural gas platform in 1989 to account for rising sea levels and Imperial Oil (an Exxon subsidiary) conducting an expedition in 1986 to study climate impacts on arctic operations.
• Fossil fuel companies and industry groups engaged in a coordinated, decades-long campaign to mislead the public and investors about climate science. This included the creation of the Global Climate Coalition (GCC) and the API's 1998 "Global Climate Science Communications Plan," which aimed to make the public believe climate science was uncertain.
• The disinformation and denial efforts were an international phenomenon involving both US and European companies. European oil and gas companies participated in US-based research and denial schemes, and similar operations were funded within Europe.
• Advances in attribution science now allow for the identification of specific companies responsible for a significant portion of historical emissions. Researchers have identified ninety fossil fuel-producing entities, fifty of which are investor-owned, that are responsible for nearly two-thirds of historical carbon and methane emissions.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). Smoke and Fumes Synopsis. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/6-pager-v5.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Smoke and Fumes Synopsis. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/6-pager-v5.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Smoke and Fumes Synopsis |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/6-pager-v5.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndsmoke, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Smoke and Fumes Synopsis}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/6-pager-v5.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }